'The palaces' 1879–80 intaglio print Collection of the National Gallery of Australia click to enlarge

Strasburg lily watermark

A fine example of the 'Strasburg lily' watermark can be seen in the paper used for Whistler’s 1879–80 etching of The palaces.

There are many variations of the 'Strasburg lily' watermark. It has also
been known, more prosaically, as the Fleur-de-Lis on a Crowned Shield,
or simply as the Fleur-de-Lis, (a term derived from the central element
of the design).

The watermark – in use from 1600 through to the 19th century –
was not limited to papers made in Strasburg, but was also used in Basle,
about 120km upstream in Switzerland. It appears widely in the Netherlands
(notably in Amsterdam) and, to an extent, in England and Germany.1 Variations
had currency in Russia and Scandinavia. Many of these places used
a less florid version which preserved the basic components – the
crowned shield enclosing the lily.

Some variations of the mark came to be associated with specific sizes
of paper. In Britain the 'Strasburg lily' came to represent Demy (40 x
51cm); with a slight alteration in the crown section, the emblem signifies
Imperial (standard size 56 x 76cm).

The Russian version of the 'Strasburg lily' was used by mills in and near
Uglich, Veliko Selo and River Yukhot.2 Papermaking
burgeoned in Russia following the active encouragement of Peter the Great
(1689–1725). Peter made an extended visit to western Europe early
in his reign, and was intent on bringing his empire to Europe and transforming
much of its medieval serf economy into an industrialised state.

In 1697
Peter spent time at Zaandam in the Netherlands (see the De Erven de Blauw countermark),
where he carefully investigated techniques of shipbuilding and papermaking.
Thereafter he was instrumental in the establishment of paper mills
at a number of centres.3

By
the early 19th century Russian paper mills had grown into large enterprises.
In 1826 the Veliko Selo paper mill employed 530 people (of whom 143
were children between six and fourteen years of age).4

In Denmark the pared-down version of the 'Strasburg lily' was in use in
the 18th century at a paper mill at Engelsholm, near Horsens, in Jutland.
The form is described by Voorn as a ‘Crowned shield with figure
representing a Lily’.5

The watermark in Whistler’s The palaces bears the date ‘1814’ below
the design. This date can only be used to verify the initial year of
the watermark’s use. Under transmitted light the image shows
flocking of pulp along the chain lines, which occurred when the sheet
was still in the wet state on the mould.

This condition is characteristic
of single-faced moulds, which were mostly superseded by double-faced
moulds late in the 18th century, but could have still been in use by
mills in 1814. While this date cannot substantiate the year of manufacture,
it indicates the sheet was produced in the early part of the
19th century.

Kassandra Coghlan and Bill Hamilton

Notes1Churchill
WA, Watermarks in paper in Holland, England, France, etc., in the XVII
and XVIII centuries and their interconnection, Amsterdam: Nieuwkoop
B De Graaf 1985, authorized reprint 1935, pp.83–84.2 Uchastkina ZV
(edited and adapted for publication in English by JSG Simmons ), A History
of Russian hand paper-mills and their watermarks, Hilversum: The Paper
Publications Society, 1962. See figures 210–13 and pp.74–81.3 Uchastkina ZV
(edited and adapted for publication in English by JSG Simmons ), A History
of Russian hand paper-mills and their watermarks, Hilversum: The Paper
Publications Society, 1962, p.15.4 Uchastkina ZV
(edited and adapted for publication in English by JSG Simmons ), A History
of Russian hand paper-mills and their watermarks, Hilversum: The Paper
Publications Society, 1962, p.79.5 Voorn H, The
paper mills of Denmark and Norway and their watermarks, Hilversum:
The Paper Publications Society, 1959, figure VII5 and p.45.